by S R Ahuja
Suddenly, Jade realized what she should do. She would go back to find Cadwr, Channing, and Hugh. For one moment, she was suspended by a promise she had made.
She had promised Sir Jack that she would not go to Lyonés again. But what Sir Jack had really been worried about was her safety, and she was relatively certain that, as mean as Cadwr and Channing were to Hugh sometimes, they were just kids like herself. She didn’t need to worry about other kids. She’d never heard of any evil kids. Jade walked quickly over to the stables. All of the horses were sleeping, as was the stable boy. Quietly, Jade found Arthur among the horses and stroked his nose to wake him up. He snorted once, but then followed Jade quietly out of the stable. She let him eat some hay and drink some water, but she didn’t bother saddling him up. She just stepped up on a hay barrel, swung her leg over his bare back, and squeezed her knees into his sides to make him start moving. Her hands gripped his mane tightly in both fists.
It took a long time to reach the Fog Plains even by horse. It took long enough, that Jade started to worry that it was getting too late and she might not make it back before morning. But it was still completely dark. With no moon, only the twinkling stars provided light, and there wasn’t even a hint of sunlight on the horizon. She should have several hours still before daylight.
As she went through the fog, the snow gradually disappeared beneath Arthur’s feet. The temperature was not warming, however. If anything, it was actually getting colder.
Eventually, Jade broke through the fog and found herself at the waterfall. Steam rose slowly from the surface, and Jade was curious as to whether the water was actually warm, but it was far too cold for her to even try putting her hand in the water. Almost as soon as she had arrived at the lake, the white-haired mermaid poked her head up from the water.
“Oh, it’s just you, Princess,” she said disappointedly. “I was hoping Peter was coming back again. He’s not with you, is he?”
“No, he’s not.” Jade said, swinging her leg over Arthur’s back and sliding off onto the hard, frozen ground.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” the mermaid said and made to dive back under the water again, but Jade called after her.
“Wait! I wanted to talk to you a minute.”
“Really?” the mermaid paused and looked back over her shoulder at Jade.
“Really, is that ok?”
The mermaid paused for a moment while she thought. “I guess that’s ok.” She swam right up onto the shore so that she was sitting with just her hip and fin resting in the water. “Want to go for a swim?”
Jade sensed the meaning behind the mermaid’s words but kept her response calm. “No, not today I don’t think.”
“Well, what do you want to do then?” She carelessly tossed her hair over her shoulder and then grinned hugely when Jade blushed at the sight of her bare breast.
Jade continued, “I wanted to ask you about Cadwr, Channing, and Hugh.”
“Ooh!” the mermaid squealed. “You want to talk about boys?”
“Umm, yeah, I guess. What do you know about them?”
The mermaid motioned her closer, but Jade was hesitant to go too close to the water. She sat down in the frozen dirt still a few feet from the water. That was apparently good enough for the mermaid because she started talking.
“Well, Cadwr and Hugh are brothers, twins, except Cadwr has always acted much older than Hugh. Hugh is a bit whiny, cowardly, not fun to play with at all. Cadwr is fun to play with because he’ll always play back. He’ll smile at us and sometimes even bring us flowers or little presents. Now, that Channing, he’s a mystery. He acts just like Cadwr, but he will never play with us. I think he and Hugh would just prefer to play with each other.” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and winked.
“How old are they?” Jade asked.
“Well, let’s see. All three of them moved to Lyonés with the Queen eight years ago, so I believe that Cadwr and Hugh are ten and Channing is twelve.”
Jade’s heart fluttered at the mention of the Queen. “The Queen, what’s her name?”
“She’s just the Queen. Queen of Lyonés, I guess.”
“Is she… good?” Jade asked.
“Good?” The mermaid laughed. “Sweetie, she was banished to Lyonés. They don’t do that to people who are ‘good.’ We mermaids don’t follow the tawdry details of Avalonians, but I heard she was banished for murdering her own child. Can you imagine? A mother killing her own baby? That’s harsh, even for mermaids.”
Jade’s heart sank. She’d known her mother was probably dead for as long as she could remember, but when Channing had mentioned the Queen those weeks ago, she had felt the stirrings of hope once more. She should have known that the King wouldn’t lie to her. Her mother, Queen Fay, was dead, and she would never get to meet her.
“Do you know where they are now?” Jade asked.
“Who?” the mermaid asked.
“Cadwr and Hugh.”
“Well, they were here earlier. Cadwr and Channing were talking about trying to find a unicorn. I remember because they asked us if we could help them, but Mother Nimue told them, ‘You will only tempt a unicorn with an innocent young lady, and I don’t think any of us qualify.’” The mermaid then broke down in a fit of giggles.
“Where would they have gone to catch a unicorn? Are there any in Lyonés?”
“Oh, unicorns aren’t bound by the boundaries of the kingdoms. They wander wherever they want. So, yes, there probably are some in Lyonés. If I had to guess, I would guess the boys were in the Valley. It’s where they like to spend most of their time when they’re not here. The Queen won’t go there because she thinks it’s so dirty, so they never have to worry about her catching them there. Just walk in a straight line through the fog, and keep walking until the ground starts to slope down, and you’ll probably be able to see them.”
“Thank you,” Jade said earnestly. “I really didn’t expect you to be so helpful.”
The mermaid laughed. “Don’t expect the same help from any of my sisters. They don’t like any girls, especially ones who are pretty like you.” She reached as far forward as she could while still remaining partially in the lake to pull playfully on one of Jade’s curls. “But I like you. You seem sweet. I don’t get to meet many sweet girls around here. Anytime you want to talk about boys, come find me. I’ll make sure my sisters don’t drown you.” She smiled an actual, sincere smile. “My name’s Vivien, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Vivien,” Jade said as she rose. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye!” Vivien called after her as Jade mounted her horse again and took off into the fog.
Jade did not have to go far into the dried land of Lyonés before the ground began to slope downward. She could see down to the bottom of the large hill to where three small figures were standing quite still.
“Cadwr!” she yelled when she got close enough to make out the three boys’ faces. “Channing! Hugh!”
Hugh smiled at her when she climbed off the horse. Cadwr and Channing also looked pleased to see her although there was something rather sinister in both of their faces.
“Amalthea!” Hugh cried with joy.
“Well, if it isn’t the princess,” Cadwr said, but then he threw his arm around her shoulders and started directing her toward the only tree in view. It was tall with an enormous trunk, but like all of the other trees in Lyonés, it did not have a single leaf on it. It looked dried and dead.
“You are just the person we need,” Channing added excitedly as he followed them.
“Remember last time you were here, and we wanted to catch a unicorn so you could see one for the first time?” Cadwr asked her.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Well, we were just trying to do that now, but it turns out there isn’t anything a unicorn will come for except to rescue a beautiful young princess like yourself,” Cadwr continued.
“What do you mean rescue?” Jade asked hesitantly.
“I thin
k you know exactly what we mean,” Cadwr said, tightening his arm around her shoulders.
“Wait… I don’t think I want to…” Jade tried to turn around, but Cadwr was too strong.
“We won’t hurt you, Amalthea,” Channing said even as he grabbed her wrists, “but unicorns are really smart. They will know if you actually need help or if you’re just faking, so we have to make this as real as possible.”
“No, please…” Jade was starting to panic even before Channing wound a thick rope around the trunk of the tree.
Holding her back against the tree, Channing tied one end of the rope to her right hand and Cadwr tied the other end to her left. She struggled and lashed out, but the older boys were too powerful for her.
“Hugh! Help me! Please!” Jade cried out to the other boy, but he just looked on sadly and didn’t do or say a single thing.
“Amalthea,” Cadwr said firmly, coming to stand right in front of her, “we are going to disappear for a minute…”
“No!”
“Hush,” he said calmly. “We won’t be far. We just have to give the unicorn time to find you.”
“Please,” Jade begged, looking up into the older boy’s brown eyes. They were eyes that Jade thought should hold some kindness, but all they held at that moment was impatience. “Please, don’t leave me tied to a tree.”
Channing, standing beside Cadwr, reached out a hand to rest on her shoulder. “It will be fine, Amalthea. All you have to do is wait. Nothing is going to hurt you.”
“Come on, Channing.” Cadwr started walking away, and Jade started out right bawling. She was more terrified than she’d ever been in her life. All she could think of was the ice dragon and her knives of ice. What if she or her fire-breathing counterpart came after her before the unicorn could find her? She’d be a goner for sure.
“Cadwr,” Channing grabbed Cadwr’s arm as he turned, but dropped it with the look he gave him. Still, he continued speaking. “She’s just a kid. Are you sure about this?”
“I’ve already got two crybabies on my hands,” Cadwr said gesturing to Jade and Hugh separately, “don’t you turn into one too.”
Channing straightened, and standing up tall he was at least half a foot taller than Cadwr. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
The two boys started walking away again. Channing grabbed Hugh’s arm and pulled him along, and Cadwr led Arthur away by the reins. The boys walked around the tree, and Jade lost sight of them. She cried out to them again, but either they were out of earshot or they ignored her.
Jade was stuck there. She had never felt so helpless or hopeless. Her arms were spread wide the way they had been tied, and her cloak was not keeping her near as warm as before. She soon began shivering.
She tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn’t stop a few from rolling down her cheeks. When the wind blew across her face, the trails they left were so bitterly cold they burned, which only made her tear up more.
She knew she should be trying to think her way out of this, but her chest was so tight with fear that it drew her complete attention. That fear wouldn’t let her do anything besides stand there, arms spread, head down, crying quietly.
She didn’t know how long she had been there when she heard a crunch that made her look up. Standing a dozen yards away from her was a tall, slender black horse. In the middle of her forehead, just below her ears, sprouting out from her hair was one long, shining silver horn.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and the little bit of sunlight made the horn glimmer like vapor. Beside the one horn, she looked exactly like a very beautiful black horse. The mane that grew long and covered her forehead and neck was dark as midnight, and her tail was the same color. It swished back and forth as she looked around.
“No!” Jade called to her. “Go away!”
The unicorn cocked her head to one side as though listening and then took another step toward Jade.
“No!” Jade called again, but the horse just sped up.
She trotted over to the tree and stopped just in front of Jade. Leaning her head down close to Jade’s, she sniffed her hair. She snorted, and Jade felt the hot air on her face and neck. It made the frozen tears burn again, but then they melted away.
“Please, go away,” she whispered to the unicorn. “They’ll be back soon and they just want to capture you.”
The unicorn stepped away and looked at her face. Their eyes connected for one moment, and Jade thought that maybe the animal understood. She turned immediately and galloped away. But the next moment, Jade realized what had really scared her off because, from not too far away, she heard someone calling her name.
“Amalthea!”
Jade turned her head to the left and saw Sir Jack on horseback racing toward her. From her right, she heard the boys running again. They appeared by her side, Arthur still following.
“You told Jack what we were doing!” Cadwr accused, glaring at Jade.
“No way!” Channing joined Cadwr in the glare.
“She couldn’t have,” Hugh piped up from behind them. The two older boys turned their glares toward him, but he still whispered, “She didn’t know what the plan was.”
They couldn’t say anymore because that was when Sir Jack arrived on the scene.
“What the hell is going on here?!” Sir Jack demanded as he dismounted. He rushed to Jade’s side and untied first her left and then her right wrists. She collapsed to the ground, physically and emotionally spent. Sir Jack picked her back up and set her on her feet, supporting her with both hands in case she would fall again.
“Well?” he demanded again. “What do you think you’re doing? Kidnapping the King’s daughter?! Could you be any more stupid?!”
“We didn’t kidnap her!” Cadwr cried in resentment. “She found us!”
“So, you tied her to a tree?”
After a great pause, Cadwr pointed accusingly at Channing, “It was his idea!”
“No, it wasn’t!” Channing shouted.
Cadwr and Channing broke to fighting then, both talking over each other and each one shouting louder than the other.
“Tace!” Sir Jack yelled. Both Channing and Cadwr went silent immediately. “You three, go home,” he said firmly. “I need to take the Princess back before the King finds out she’s gone, or he might just start an all-out war.”
“You didn’t tell my father?” Jade looked up at the knight hopefully. Maybe the King would never know that she snuck out of the castle.
“No,” Sir Jack said, turning now to her, “and it will be best for all of us if he never finds out.”
He grabbed Jade around the middle then and set her up on top of her horse. “Don’t you fall off or then there will be no hiding this from your father.”
“How did you know I was here?” Jade asked him.
“Vivien,” was all he said. Then he turned to the boys. “Go home, now! And don’t think this is the end of this. We are going to talk about this just as soon as the Princess is safe.”
The boys took off running as Sir Jack mounted his own horse.
“We will have to be fast, Jade. Please, just follow me and don’t ask questions. I know this land much better than you.”
He started riding directly into the rising sun, and Jade followed him.
The sun was not as bright as it normally was at daybreak, and Jade realized as they raced over the hard land, that that was because they were seeing it through the screen of fog. They were both pushing their horses, but Jade was faster. As they neared the Fog Plains, she overtook Sir Jack. He called for her to wait, but she knew where she was going, and she was anxious to get home.
She raced onward despite Sir Jack’s call from behind. Just as the snow was starting to appear on the ground again, Arthur stopped, almost throwing Jade forward over his head. She gripped his body tightly with her knees and clung to his mane to keep herself from falling. She saw what had made him stop so suddenly. In front of them was a line of knights on horses, and in the middle
was none other than the King himself.
She gasped and waited for him to yell at her, but all he said was, “Amalthea, you’re all right.” He dismounted his horse, and Jade swiftly slid off her as well.
The moment she fully understood that he wasn’t angry and was just happy to see her safe and well, she rushed to him, throwing her arms around his knees and finally let out a fresh wave of tears.
Behind her, she heard a horse approaching slowly and knew Sir Jack had caught up to her, but she didn’t turn around. The King reached down, and gently picked her up. She knew she was much too old now to be carried like a child, but the King seemed to have no problem as he cradled her against his chest, and she liked feeling the strength of his arms and chest protecting her. She still didn’t look at Sir Jack because even though the King wasn’t angry with her, she knew Sir Jack still would be.
“Jack,” the King said. With her ear pressed to his chest, Jade could feel his deep voice rumble through her whole body, and he no longer sounded relieved. “Explain yourself.”
Jade looked up now. She looked at Sir Jack who had dismounted his horse and was standing in front of the row of knights, none of whom looked pleased to see him. She didn’t understand. She was the one who had run away.
Sir Jack took a deep breath before he started talking. “I woke in the night when I thought I heard a sound in the Princess’s room.” He spoke very calmly like he was just giving the King a daily report of the happenings of Avalon, but Jade thought she heard something small hiding behind the calm. “When I went to her room to investigate, I found her window had blown open, but the Princess was nowhere to be found. I immediately went to the stables, and, when I saw her favored horse was gone, I feared she had run to Lyonés.”
“Why would you think that?” the King asked.
“She had asked me about it some weeks ago. I thought she was just curious, but she is an adventurous child, and I feared she had gone to sate her curiosity, but it is a dangerous place, and I knew she could be hurt,” he explained.